Blog Archive

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Back in the Saddle for 2015

Looking into the coast range

Yee gods.
Its been one hell of a while since a post.
But as I have written before, I'm not going to waste my time or anyone else's time with inane gear reviews, what I ate for lunch, or my daily routine.
Not that I have been sitting in a shack, holed up doing nothing. There was 2 months in New Zealand hiking and mountain biking. And while its a great place, its not exactly a "wild" country with new adventure to be had.
So, back to The Yukon.
The rivers are up, the snow is gone from the high country, and the lads are back at it.
Wheaton River, upper run.
Paul B and Tony did it 2 summers ago. Walk in to the Wheatons headwaters, camp, paddle out.
Amazing country, and a great overnight back country fix.
Friday afternoon, saw Paul B, Dylan, Tony, Grant and myself walking up the Berney creek road. We nipped over a small pass and dropped over into the upper Wheaton river valley. Fantastic hiking in open, alpine terrain.

Berney creek road and Mt. Skukum behind

Easy cruising with one small cliff-out had us camped in the wonderful Pine flats around 10 PM. You just have to love endless daylight. A wonderful mix of campfire, whiskey, great company and the song of the river wafted us to sleep.

We were up relatively early, and on the river by 9 AM. We ended up walking downstream a bit, as it was a touch bony by camp.

Heading down through the old burn with Radelet peak in the background

The river is a bit constricted until Boudette creek comes roaring in from the South, doubling the volume and opening it right up.

The next few Kms are great fun with lots of boulder gardens and chutes. After a bit, the Wheaton slows, meanders and generally settles down, until Berney creek joins the party. Then its fast, tight fun until Fenwick creek joins. Watch out for wood!
We hit the bridge again around 3:30, and headed back to our cabin for beer around the campfire.
Great fun.